Young artists bring color to the streets of Watertown

Friday

Jul 4, 2014 at 10:48 AMJul 4, 2014 at 10:48 AM

By Angie DeWittwatertown@wickedlocal.com

Watertown High School students are once again bringing beauty and creativity to the walls of Watertown.Twelve high school students alongside artist Gregg Bernstein began work on a new cultural mural Monday, June 30.The mural is the second in their "Tapestry of Cultures" series, representing the diversity that fills Watertown.The mural consists of several different symbols, shapes and designs that represent cultures from around the globe, and the color theme is rainbow to represent unity, said the artist behind the project, Gregg Bernstein, who was crew leader and assistant director of the Boston mural crew for 16 years.The student artists themselves did the research to choose the symbols and shapes, and though they were chosen with a specific culture in mind, Bernstein says they are not going to disclose to the community which culture each symbol originated from.Rather, he said, they will leave it up to the public to find things in the mural that they can personally identify with.On Monday June 30, the students began by creating the grid in which they will form their creation. The columns are labeled with numbers while the rows are labeled with letters.This allows the students to spread out from one another and work on individual pieces of the mural while still ensuring that those individual pieces will come together as one, Bernstein explained.A sketch of the final mural has been created, and from that the students will have the opportunity to choose which shapes and pieces they would like to paint, he said.They chose their section of the mural and began the outline of the larger shapes on Tuesday, July 1.After a few days off for the July 4 weekend, the students will begin a Monday-Friday workweek, working from 8:30am-2pm over the course of eight weeks.The mural crew received a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) of $15 thousand which will pay the students a stipend for their work over the summer, said Bernstein.They are employed through the recreation department and are considered summer interns there, overseen by department director Peter Centola for the second year in a row.The first Tapestry of Cultures mural was created in 2013 and comprised of 80 different cultures and backgrounds found in Watertown schools, said Bernstein.The 2013 mural won a Massachusetts Cultural Council Gold Star Award and a Watertown Historical Society Preservation Award, according to the June 23 press release through the Watertown Cultural Council.This yearís mural is much taller than last yearís, according to one of the student artists, fifteen-year-old Abi Vershbow."Iím very excited. This is much more preferable than watching Netflix all day," she expressed.Everyone should swing by periodically to check out the progress of the mural as it develops over the coming weeks, Vershbow suggested."Itíll get better every day," she said.Caitlyn DíAmico, 16, is thrilled to be bringing more art to Watertown.Thereís not much art here, she said with the hopes of opening that door for the town."Itís going to be really, really pretty," said DíAmico."A big wall filled with colors in Watertown Square..." she mused.The sun beating down on the artists is no match against the opportunity to work with Bernstein, said Marvin Aramthip, 15.He hopes the art will make Watertown a more welcoming town and that it will change how people look at it.The mural crew has had a lot of outside help to see this dream come to life. In addition to the grant from NEFA, the project has received $8,000 from athenahealth, $3.5 thousand from Watertown Savings Bank, $2.5 thousand from Watertown Community Foundation, and $2,000 from the wall owners, Myer Dana and Sons, according to the press release.In addition, Sherwin Williams has donated the paint for the project, Home Depot is providing the equipment, and Tufts Health Plan cleaned, prepped, and primed the wall to prepare it for the artwork, according to the release.The Community Planning and Development Department has also been working closely with the public art committee from the start to bring this project to life.The project has only just begun, but over the next eight weeks there will be weekly photo updates to display the constant change and transition of the once-plain wall.Progress will also be documented on the Watertown Bike and Pedestrian Committee blog.